Olympic Ayres

DnM : Hey guys, how’s life down under?OA : It’s great, the weather has been up and down but spring is soon on its way!DnM : Crazy. Spring is on it’s way? We are mid-summer…silly Australians.

DnM : So, What has been keeping you busy since the release of ‘Magic’? –OA : Right now we’re trying to organize a national tour around Australia. We’ve got some dates locked in but at the moment we’re looking to finalize a few more. There are a few Aussie states we’ve never been to before so we’re really looking forward to it!DnM : That’s pretty sick, good luck on the tour. If it wasn’t such a commute I’d come check it out, haha.

DnM : Anyway, back to the song ‘Magic’. It has your most commercial success (65k plays on soundcloud). What do you want the fans to know about it?OA : The song started simply with an idea. We worked on it to a point where we were happy, then bought it to the attention of the Magician himself Jean Paul-Fung (JP). We spent a few days re working it with his help and the result was the single you hear today.Dnm : Cool, it definitely turned out to be one of my favourite songs of the summer.
[JP…Or so Google Images tells me.]

DnM : why did you guys choose this to be your official remix release?OA : I guess it came down to how good we felt about the track and what it evoked from us when listening to it. We hoped that other artists would feel the same way when they heard it and be able to give us their own interpretation. We’re really pleased with how all the remixes turned out!DnM : Totally. They were all such sick tracks, however Luke Million’s has to be my favourite, it has this 1980s-1990s, supersynth, power-rangers feel to it. Pretty epic.

DnM : Now, you guys have stated you are influenced by dance music, hip-hop, and indie. What is it exactly about those genres that influence you? Is it the rhythmic nature of hip-hop? The groove of disco? The progressiveness of indie?OA : Hip-Hop is great; lyrically I’m mostly inspired by rappers. The way they’re able to articulate their ideas and convey a message is second to none. With disco it’s definitely the groove, we’re conscious of how we think people are going to dance to the music we make and the 4-4 rhythms can be undeniable.DnM : Couldn’t agree more about the hip-hop and the articulation. So expressive, and visceral.

DnM : So, what are your thoughts on the current Electronic Dance Music scene? I’m noticing a change a from the fist-pumping bro, 120 bmp, towards more of the sounds of artists like you, Viceory, Breakbot, Daft Punk’s RAM, etc etc. Something that carries a ‘feel good vibe’ something that requires skills to dance to.

OA : It’s interesting… Regardless of the style or particular genre, as long as artists are consistent with their quality of music I think that will always shine through. Dance music is constantly changing and being delivered to us through all sorts of mediums, whether it’s inside or outside of a computer. It’s an exciting time for the genre as a whole.DnM : I agree, as long as it keeps people happy and on the dance floor.

DnM : What is your hardware / software set-up like? If I’m not mistake in the video to magic we can see you guys using Logic and an axiom 49.OA : Its really simple actually, basically running logic while adding bass, guitars and synth’s …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swHqgVmx5lU

DnM : Speaking of your video, I noticed one of you playing a piano, who was that and what’s your favourite key to play in?OA : That was I, Kamaliza. I don’t particularly have a favourite key to play in as music theory isn’t really my strong point. What I really enjoy is moulding a bunch of chord progressions together and pray they somehow make sense. The fantastic thing about music is that it’s limitless and you can delivery it in so many different ways without having to stick to a tradition.DnM : Haha totally, the whole ‘spray and pray’ can be applied and create beautiful pieces.

DnM : What is your musical training like?OA : Not very extensive… the only training we’ve had is probably what we learnt in high school. I guess that was enough to fuel our ambition to continue what we loved doing which was making music

DnM : Any plans to tour this way? Say Van-City?OA : One day…the seed of international shows has been planted in our heads but it’s yet to become reality. Nothing set in stone just yet but it would be a dream come true!DnM : You just lemme know,

DnM : Now time for a generic question, what are the future plans for Olympic Ayres?OA : We’re passionate about writing and we’d like to take advantage of the time we have while we can. More releases, more shows and more material is all that’s on our mind.DnM : No complaints here.

DnM : Our blog has a token question which I will ask you; If you could do one drug, with any person ( past or present ) who and what would it be?OA : LSD with Einstein – No question.

DnM : Lastly, can I get some real first names? I doubt parents willingly named a child mmiiddii – a double lettering of MIDI.OA : I can confirm my first name is Kamaliza. mmiiddii’s real name is a legend that may be best told another time… Until then.DnM : Awesome, thank for your time and answers guys!